InSight Crime

🇻🇪 This week in the #VenezuelaObservatory, Nicolás Maduro's government repression of the opposition intensifies with an attack by hooded assailants on the home where opposition leader María Corina Machado was staying in Táchira This is a common practice of paramilitary armed groups known as colectivos, which have been used by Maduro in previous elections. Among the wreckage of a small plane intercepted in Portuguesa, authorities found a Mexican passport, evidence of how Mexican criminal groups use Venezuela as a dispatch point for drug shipments. The arrest of a Prison Ministry worker with drugs and weapons indicates that, despite prison interventions, the structural problems that foster corruption remain. Read more about these events and more of our analysis of organized crime in Venezuela at: https://bit.ly/4buMOuY

🇪🇨 Convictions in the Villavicencio murder have brought little closure in Ecuador. On July 12, a court in Pichincha sentenced Carlos Edwin Angulo, alias “Invisible,” and Laura Dayanara Castillo to 34 years each for orchestrating the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio from prison. Three other accomplices received 12-year sentences. Villavicencio, an investigative journalist and presidential candidate, was a vocal critic of corruption and organized crime. His assassination nearly a year ago shocked Ecuador and the world, highlighting the country’s severe security challenges. From the start, the investigation into his assassination faced significant setbacks. Seven key witnesses were murdered in prison and Ecuador’s National Police faced criticism for failing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the murder. Even now, despite last week’s convictions, Villavicencio’s family and supporters believe the murder’s intellectual authors remain at large. 📎 Read our full analysis to learn more.

🇻🇪⚡️ #OperaciónTrueno| “Carlos” was disappeared into a clandestine torture site, where security officials hung him from a ceiling and electrocuted him. After being beaten into making a false confession, he was charged as a terrorist. Carlos is one of the dozens of victims of human rights abuses committed during Operation Trueno in the Venezuelan state of Guarico. These cases were documented by Defiende Venezuela and InSight Crime is now presenting them in a series of graphic stories. Explore the full investigation here. https://bit.ly/3XR4PjP

🇨🇴 According to Colombian police data, cattle rustling cases fell by 71% between 2017 and 2023, from 5,135 head of cattle stolen to 1,484 during that span. The drop in theft appears to be due to the success of police operations against mainly local cattle rustling networks. Police actions have focused on preventing the crime through the use of new technology, as well as strengthening controls and investigative and intelligence work. However, there is severe underreporting of these crimes. 🖇️ Read the complete analysis here: https://bit.ly/3Lp6c1O

In 2010, Jeremy McDermott and I launched a small organization with one purpose: investigate and write about organized crime in the Americas. At the time, we were four people. Now we are 40 + a dozen more more contributors on any given day. In recent days, Columbia Journalism School decided to honor us with a special citation for the Maria Moors Cabot Prizes. It is an immense honor and tribute to our staff over the years. And a huge thanks to those of you who have supported and shared our work.

🇨🇴 The Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, announced last week that deforestation levels dropped to historic lows not seen in 23 years. Last year alone, deforestation fell by 36% compared to the year before. The influence of organized crime on this reduction could be crucial. In this case, the Central General Staff of the ex-FARC mafia established restrictions on logging in areas under their influence in Colombia's Amazon region. 📎 To learn more about their relationship with deforestation, read our latest article here. https://bit.ly/4cCVGQj

Illegal sand mining is the third illegal market with the highest revenue, ranking only after piracy and falsifications, and drug trafficking. This illicit activity causes environmental damages such as wildlife extinctions, changes in waterways, and increased flooding, besides harming drinking water. In our latest piece, we analyze how this illegal market works in Brazil, Colombia, and México. Read more at https://bit.ly/3VV7DtB

With the new designation of transnational criminal organization from the US Treasury Department, Tren de Aragua has joined the list of the most renowned criminal organizations in Latin America and the world, losing the low profile it once had that helped it enter new countries. A similar process occurred with the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13), designated in October 2012 as the first transnational street gang. The designation exposed MS13 leaders to extradition requests and trials in US courts, a new threat now facing the main leaders of the Tren de Aragua. Read our analysis of their designation as a Transnational Criminal Organization: https://bit.ly/3zIwutm

This week in the #VenezuelaObservatory, we take measure of the CICPC’s director’s claim that Tren de Aragua’s leader Niño Guerrero ordered the assassination of a former comptroller with previous officials’ assertions that the criminal group had been eliminated.A video of Colombian paramilitaries alleging that Venezuela’s “extreme right wing” seeks to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro may provide the justification for more political arrests ahead of the upcoming presidential election. And an apparent increase in illegal mining in Canaima National Park highlights yet again how attractive national parks are for organized crime groups. Read these and more organized crime news at: https://bit.ly/3U3zSqu

#OperaciónTrueno | Under Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian regime in Venezuela, security forces are free to abuse and exploit the population with impunity, while human rights defenders that document their crimes face repression and persecution. InSight Crime joined with Defiende Venezuela in a groundbreaking collaboration that exposes those abuses and spotlights the critical and dangerous work of human rights organizations through a series of illustrated stories depicting the horrific abuses suffered by residents of Altagracia de Orituco in the security deployment Operation Trueno. Explore the full series here. https://bit.ly/3XR4PjP